A punchless Braves lineup could add a couple of imposing, much-needed additions within the next week or two, with Freddie Freeman set to come off the disabled list Wednesday and the highly anticipated debut of Cuban third baseman Hector Olivera expected by late August.
Both played in Gulf Coast League games in central Florida on Thursday and Friday to begin injury-rehab assignments, with Braves officials in attendance. Freeman is returning from a strained oblique and Olivera from a hamstring he injured while playing for the Dodgers’ Triple-A team, before the recent three-team trade that brought 30-year-old Olivera and two others to the Braves and sent three Atlanta pitchers and infield prospect Jose Peraza to Los Angeles.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Freeman, who was 0-for-7 with four strikeouts in two GCL rehab games, would join Gwinnett on the road this weekend and stay with the Triple-A team until joining the Braves for Wednesday’s series finale at San Diego. That’s the first day he’s eligible to come off the 15-day DL.
The Braves start a seven-game trip in San Diego on Monday that includes four games against the Cubs beginning Thursday.
Olivera went 0-for-5 in his first two GCL games, his first games of any kind in a month. Because of the layoff, the Braves plan to have him move up the ladder in their minor league system, with brief stints at a few stops before he joins the major league team. He’s scheduled to join the low Single-A Rome team at some point this weekend.
“(Freeman) got his at-bats, he feels great,” said Gonzalez, who was at Thursday’s GCL game. “I don’t expect him to (require more rehab time than) when his 15 days are up. He’s excited. He feels great.
“Olivera may be a little longer than Freeman. Maybe 3-4 days, maybe another week, 10 days. He hasn’t played much. But he feels good. They both had really, really good batting practice. I was really impressed with Olivera’s BP. I think he went 0-for-3 (Friday). But again, I’m not worried about results right now, just getting his legs under him and let him get some at-bats.”
Gonzalez said Olivera “put on a show” during batting practice on a back field at the Braves’ spring-training headquarters in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., which is home to their GCL team and where they have many injured pitchers and position players working at various stages of rehab. He said the 6-foot-2, 220-pound, right-handed-hitting Olivera hit long home runs to right-center field and drove several balls onto a street beyond the outfield fence.
Gonzalez, who was also born in Cuba, talked with Olivera a few times when the Braves were in the bidding for him last winter, and they spoke again Thursday.
“He’s chomping at the bit,” Gonzalez said. “But he knows it’s going to take a little time. But I tell you what, he put on a show in batting practice. He’s hitting balls in to the street over there at 9:30-10 in the morning with bad (batting-practice) baseballs.”
Gonzalez smiled and added, “He’s going to be all right.”
